Bushwick Inlet Park wins prestigious architectural award
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) announced on Tuesday that Bushwick Inlet Park from local firm Kiss + Cathcart, Architects was one of the 2014 winners of the prestigious 2014 COTE Top 10 Award. COTE stands for Committee on the Environment and these projects represent the very best in innovative, sustainable design from around the world.
The program celebrates projects that are the result of a thoroughly integrated approach to architecture, natural systems and technology. The projects will be honored at the AIA 2014 National Convention and Design Exposition in Chicago.
The Bushwick park project is the first phase of the transformation of the Greenpoint–Williamsburg waterfront from a decaying industrial strip to a multifaceted public park. The design team integrated a program of playfields, public meeting rooms, classrooms and park maintenance facilities, into a city-block sized site. The park building becomes a green hill on the west side, making 100 percent of the site usable to the public, and offering views to Manhattan. Below the green roof is a complex of building systems – ground source heat pump wells, rainwater harvest and storage and drip irrigation. A solar trellis produces half the total energy used in the building.